Enforcement of building codes is a crucial part of mitigating disaster losses, especially in an era of more intense storms, experts say.
With Hurricane Dorian, a lack of supervision and enforcement of good building codes played a role in the level of devastation seen in the Bahamas outside of the resort areas, said Jim Breitkreitz, Chicago-based vice president of property services, risk engineering U.S., Zurich North America.
Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2017, was also “an example of what happens when you have poor building code enforcement,” he said.
“It was a terrible disaster, and so much misery and loss of life could have been avoided by building to a more resilient standard,” Mr. Breitkreitz said.
Even in a state or territory where building codes are updated, it’s as important that the codes are enforced properly, experts say.
“Changing building codes today doesn’t necessarily mean that every building out there meets those codes,” said Lance Malcolm, U.S. president, contractor connection at Crawford & Co. in Jacksonville, Florida.
“Enforcement is huge; making sure we’re enforcing the codes we have and that the codes we create are enforced in the future,” Mr. Malcolm said.
While Florida tops the list of hurricane-prone states with the strongest residential building codes, Delaware ranks at the bottom, according to a 2018 report published by the Richburg, South Carolina-based Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.
Some 50% of a state’s rating as assessed by the institute is based on statewide adoption and enforcement of building codes, the report states.
